Graham Annesley says All-Stars match unlikely to have golden point in future

Latrell Mitchell kicked a penalty goal in the dying minutes to level the scores, but the Indigenous All-Stars couldn’t win the match on the ensuing final set.

Daley said he was trying to send a message to the players on the field to go for a try, regardless of the confusion over whether golden point was available.

But NRL head of football Graham Annesley said it wasn’t likely a change would be made next year to allow further play to determine a winner.

“The All-Stars game is traditionally not played with golden point and it’s purely because of player workload,” he said.

“NRL clubs have given up their players to feature in the game and it would be wrong to overwork players when they have to return to their clubs and start the competition in a couple of weeks.

“It’s an important game on the calendar, but I don’t think we need to extend it beyond 80 minutes. Ultimately it’s a decision for the [Australian Rugby League] Commission, though.”

Saturday night’s match was a low-scoring affair in wet conditions and could have resulted in both sides playing plenty of minutes before an outcome was secured.

Kidwell was adamant the result was only part of a significant cultural week for both sides, which engage in numerous community and education visits.

This year’s pre-season has already been shorn of the NRL Nines and limited trials over the past fortnight have been restricted to players who featured in 12 games or less last season.

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All clubs will be able to choose their more experienced players in final pre-season hit-outs this week.

Kidwell has spoken to NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo about possibly taking the fixture, which has grown each year, to New Zealand in the future.

Meanwhile, Wests Tigers will wait until Monday to decide whether to roll the dice at the judiciary after prop Zane Musgrove was hit with a grade two shoulder charge for his stackle Tyrell Fuimaono.

Musgrove will miss two matches with an early guilty plea, but it will be increased to three if he fights it unsuccessfully at the judiciary.

The Tigers will play the Raiders and Roosters in the opening fortnight of the season.

Musgrove’s possible absence would be a huge blow for the Tigers and cap a turbulent off-season for the forward after he signed a three-year contract extension and was caught in minor off-field drama when he was taken to a Sydney police station after an incident outside a Sydney pub. He was later released without charge.